So will there be a 2020 season?

[imref]

Pro-rated, but what if there is no season at all. Pro-rated would then mean no pay at all?  And if there is a season, and a player refuses to play, he would also get no salary?

Good question. That will be for the union and owners to work out.  I'm guessing if a player refuses to play, the don't get paid.

[HalfSmokes]

If there is no season there is no further pay. If a player doesn’t want to play, and has a legitimate reason, there’s a grievance process built into the CBA

[OldChelsea]

Good question. That will be for the union and owners to work out.  I'm guessing if a player refuses to play, the don't get paid.

The way I understand it is, Major League contracts (but not minor league) are guaranteed to the utmost farthing, no matter what: http://m.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/guaranteed-contract

[Slateman]

Halfway through April, the Nats are undefeated and the Phillies are winless

[imref]

Halfway through April, the Nats are undefeated and the Phillies are winless

I'm gonna guess the Nats have set, or are close to setting, a baseball record for longest period of time without a loss.

[Elvir Ovcina]

I'm gonna guess the Nats have set, or are close to setting, a baseball record for longest period of time without a loss.

Any team that won its last game last season but missed the playoffs has the Nats beat by a good distance.   The same would be true of any team that won its last game in 1994, as the season ended in August and the 1995 season didn't begin until April 25. 

[imref]

The Nationals have notified team staff that they will be paid through the end of May.

[NatsAllThe Way]

I assume if there's no season that as the reigning Champs, the Nats are given the WS again.  Woohoo, back-to-back, baby!!  A true dynasty.

[OldChelsea]

I assume if there's no season that as the reigning Champs, the Nats are given the WS again.  Woohoo, back-to-back, baby!!  A true dynasty.

Not officially,  if the 1994 precedent (Expos have best record in majors when the players' strike breaks out, but Lords of Baseball refuse to recognise Expos as de facto champions) continues to hold.

Would be nice though.

[Natsinpwc]

Not officially,  if the 1994 precedent (Expos have best record in majors when the players' strike breaks out, but Lords of Baseball refuse to recognise Expos as de facto champions) continues to hold.

Would be nice though.

If last season had ended for some reason before October would you have wanted MLB to declare the Astros as champions for having the best record? I can’t understand why anyone thinks the Expos should have been declared champs based on a partial season. The Expos had 35 seasons to try and win. Not MLB’s fault they choked when they had chances and made dumb trades. And decided to play in a terrible stadium.

[OldChelsea]

If last season had ended for some reason before October would you have wanted MLB to declare the Astros as champions for having the best record? I can’t understand why anyone thinks the Expos should have been declared champs based on a partial season. The Expos had 35 seasons to try and win. Not MLB’s fault they choked when they had chances and made dumb trades. And decided to play in a terrible stadium.

The Expos did play a statistically significant percentage of their fixtures - 70.4% (114 of 162), which is about the most that one could hope to be played if the 2020 season ever does become a reality.

As for Stade Olympique being a terrible stadium - I went up there five times from 1994-2000 and, while the place was subject to the normal objections about domes and artificial turf, it did have its moments. It was easy to get to on the Metro and (at least on the earlier of my visits) had decent places to eat within the ground, plus a decent team store. But the real treat was getting club seats with food and drinks served at your seat for just $22 (these were, location-wise, the equivalent of PNC Diamond Club seats at Nats Park).

[Natsinpwc]

The Expos did play a statistically significant percentage of their fixtures - 70.4% (114 of 162), which is about the most that one could hope to be played if the 2020 season ever does become a reality.

As for Stade Olympique being a terrible stadium - I went up there five times from 1994-2000 and, while the place was subject to the normal objections about domes and artificial turf, it did have its moments. It was easy to get to on the Metro and (at least on the earlier of my visits) had decent places to eat within the ground, plus a decent team store. But the real treat was getting club seats with food and drinks served at your seat for just $22 (these were, location-wise, the equivalent of PNC Diamond Club seats at Nats Park).

You can’t award a championship without playoffs. Do you think the NBA and NHL will award titles this year if play is not resumed?

They had their chances in 1980 and 1981 and blew it. 

Seats were cheap because no one wanted to go to the games.

[Five Banners]

Not officially,  if the 1994 precedent (Expos have best record in majors when the players' strike breaks out, but Lords of Baseball refuse to recognise Expos as de facto champions) continues to hold.

Would be nice though.

They topped the NL, Yankees topped the AL, all pre-interleague (AL had won three previous WS), so no reason to recognize either as champs -- and a nice black eye on Selig's tenure and MLB as a whole for allowing that to happen.

[Natsinpwc]

And yet another plan floated. 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/a-possible-mlb-reopening-plan-would-feature-three-realigned-divisions-231511095.html

[Five Banners]

And yet another plan floated. 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/a-possible-mlb-reopening-plan-would-feature-three-realigned-divisions-231511095.html

"The most notable detail included is that the plan would be based around all 30 teams playing some or all of the season at their home ballpark, albeit without fans in attendance."

They could let them open for fans as the cities themselves remove restrictions

[bluestreak]

"The most notable detail included is that the plan would be based around all 30 teams playing some or all of the season at their home ballpark, albeit without fans in attendance."

They could let them open for fans as the cities themselves remove restrictions

No city is going to allow tens of thousands of people to congregate in one place this year.

[HalfSmokes]

No city is going to allow tens of thousands of people to congregate in one place this year.

The Vegas mayor seems to not give a crap- maybe all the leagues should just play there, I wonder if they could rename the raiders stadium the patient zero bowl

[rileyn]

As much I want sports back, especially baseball now, I have no interest in watching games with no fans.  It just doesn't do anything for me. 

[OldChelsea]

Half a loaf is better than none; better to have baseball with no fans than no baseball at all.

[Natsinpwc]

Half a loaf is better than none; better to have baseball with no fans than no baseball at all.

Agree. 

[captkirk42]

If they do have a partial season and a post-season playoffs with a realigned league then the final playoff matches would be interesting with matchups of teams that traditionally have been in the same leagues. Imagine a "World Series" between the Nats and Dodgers, or Yankees and Tigers

[HalfSmokes]

Manfred would nut himself if he got a Yankees Red Sox World Series

[Natsinpwc]

If there are no fans it will be much easier to hear the Astros banging trash cans.

[Five Banners]

Half a loaf is better than none; better to have baseball with no fans than no baseball at all.

Having no fans changes drastically affects basic elements like pressure and momentum, let alone removing the experience from its audience in an unprecedented way. Then there's the awarding of actual hardware and regarding records and stats as comparable with what came before.

Combine that with the devaluing of records and titles Manfred is perpetrating in the wake of Black Sox level activities associated with the 2017 WS piece of metal holder, and the ingredients are in place for the fast tracking to oblivion of a sport built on history and tradition, generational fan connection, and basic fair play.

(But at least Boras gets to reset the table for another free agency season.)

[OldChelsea]

Having no fans changes drastically affects basic elements like pressure and momentum, let alone removing the experience from its audience in an unprecedented way. [...]

Understood, but I've attended quite a few well-played Nats matches amid some pretty dire turn-outs. Home field advantage doesn't mean as much (in sports generally, not just baseball) as it used to.

And getting the whole story on the CoronaExtraVirus is still very much a work in progress, so until such time as it is deemed safe to resume normal staging of league games (Nats' average attendance last season was 27,899/fixture) I'm willing to play it safe and stick with Charlie and Dave.